KFC's Secret Recipe Decoded by Long Island Man?

Via KFC Cruelty

KFC, which guards its secret recipe so closely that it's kept in a safe at corporate headquarters, can't be too happy about this: A Long Island man says he's all but figured out the secret to KFC's distinctive taste. Two years ago Ron Douglas quit his job as finance manager at JP Morgan to fully devote himself to his website, which publishes recipes that aim to recreate menu items at chain restaurants like Applebee's and Denny's. But the Colonel's secret is the holy grail of recipes, and Douglas has spent years trying to figure it out, even going so far as to try to bribe a cook at the chain. (The cook declined.) His new cookbook features his sixth attempt at replicating the top-secret recipe, and he tells the Post, "Nobody knows what those 11 herbs and spices are. But if you taste my chicken, you would find the flavor very similar to KFC." But 'very similar' sounds like an understatement (or an attempt to avoid a trademark lawsuit); after a taste test the tabloid deemed his chicken "an exact match" with KFC. Okay, but is it worth rioting over?

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By John Del Signore in Food on July 20, 2009 12:26 PM

Comments [rss]

corygreenwell

Saying it's "very similar" wouldn't avoid trademark issues. KFC uses trade secrets so as to avoid public disclosure which they'd have to give with patent protection. While they might have a trademark taste, there is no actual trademark for the taste. They have a trademark for KFC with respect to their food (IC 29), but not the taste of the food itself

Spirit of 76

You can't patent a recipe anyway. Even if you could, it would be a bad move. You only get 17 years of protection, which would have expired decades ago. Everything is divulged in the patent. And others can get around it just by changing, adding or subtracting an ingredient or two.

The Colonel

Sounds like an obvious publicity move for his new cookbook... I'm not too concerned, hehe.

P.S. My vote for the secret ingredient is with jibbly... either love or maybe children's cough syrup, lol.

Gothampc

The secret ingredient is old man breath. You've heard of baby's breath, well this is old man's breath.

KFC is ok, but I can make better fried chicken myself.

Rocknrope

Ingredient #9: Stuff from my colonel beard.

NannyState

Ball sweat is a secret ingredient commonly used at many locations...

whitecastlerock

one of the ingredients has to be citric magnesium...

hotstepper

chicken is good.

Roncore

ARGH!!!

This guy owns Ron Douglas.com and I've tried to buy it from him before.

His name isn't even Ron Douglas, its "Ron Duckett", and look at how he is wasting the domain name that should be mine: rondouglas.com

Either way, I still have the Number one spot in google.

matty

Says the man who has roncore as his handle. In fact, I'm going to register ron doublas on here right now just to piss you off.

;D

matty

i mean ron douglas!

ahhhhhhhh!

militza

I don't care what spices are in their chicken. KFC does unspeakable things to my digestive system. I don't know how anyone eats that stuff.

matty

Well it would be cool to eat fried chicken that didn't have the sodium, chemicals and hormone-fed chickens that kfc uses. So maybe I'll try this recipe at home!

dr zippy

As I recall, William Poundstone figured out 25 years ago, in his book "Big Secrets", that the 11 herbs and spices were salt, pepper and MSG.

ANGRYGOD11

Sound like Ron Douglas should worry about KFC "hiring" some unlicensed drivers to visit his neighborhood.

jibbly

http://www.simpsonssoundboards.com/pages/frink.htm

"Brace yourselves gentlemen. According to the gas chromatograph, the secret ingredient is... Love?! Who's been screwing with this thing?"

longacre

even going so far as to try to bribe a cook at the chain.

If KFC entrusted minimum wage cooks with the recipe, the secret would have been revealed decades ago. It comes in premade...the "cooks" are really just fryer technicians.